Linked: How Racism in HR Practices Hides in Plain Sight
Ah yes, the old “degree requirement” for a job that really doesn’t require one. I see this play out on the technology sector all the time, as that degree you earned even a handful of years ago is completely outdated now, but it still checks the box for having a degree. But, have you stopped to consider how that requirement, and the other things mentioned in the article below, might actually be running in the opposite direction as your diversity efforts?
“Qualifications requirements are one of the biggest sources of racism in hiring and promotion. They are described as being the core of merit-based hiring, but are they really? If an agency decides it wants to hire only people with Bachelor’s degrees, but the job does not require a degree and the agency has no proof that a degree leads to higher performance, the agency is discriminating against people who lack a particular credential that is not needed for the job. When we look at this chart of census data on education and race, it becomes apparent that a degree requirement that is not valid is likely to make more white and Asian people eligible for the job, and fewer Black and Hispanic people eligible. Was the intent to be racist? Probably not, but the intent does not erase the racially biased outcome of the decision.”
